All language subtitles for MasterChef.S21E20.1080p.WEBRiP.x264-DARKFLiX

The MasterChef semifinals continue.

Last time,
Olivia and Munopa went home.

Now this year's
six best cooks remain.

This is totally taking over my life.

All I'm talking about
to my friends and family is cooking.

I don't think that there was

any point of this competition

where I thought I would be
in the final six.

The expectation is

very, very high now.

It's just, like, mixed emotions.

Excited. Happy. Worried.

Tonight...

Ooh!

..they're in for an unforgettable
cooking experience like no other.

A British culinary icon

is just about to enter
the MasterChef kitchen.

They're going to go on a journey
where imagination has no bounds.

What comes next is going to
change their opinion of cookery

and food forever.

Pink!

Oh, my gosh!

Welcome back.

We have a very special challenge
for you right now.

30 years ago, a restaurant opened

that changed
the British culinary scene forever.

This restaurant

has had three Michelin stars

for an unprecedented 21 years.

Wow!

It is now a real honour
to introduce you to

the genius behind
The Fat Duck restaurant...

THEY LAUGH

..the one and only
Heston Blumenthal.

Oh, my days!

Oh!

Wow.

In 1995, an unknown and
untrained Heston Blumenthal

took over a tiny Berkshire pub,

determined to rewrite
the culinary rule book.

It was absolute chaos.

For the first ten years of the Duck,

I was working 120 hours a week
and getting 20 hours' sleep.

It was exhausting.

Questioning the accepted techniques
and rules of cooking,

Heston introduced menus

with bizarre-sounding dishes
that delighted diners.

Heston's food attacks
all the senses -

the sound, the sight,
the smell, the taste, the touch.

GREGG: It's the magic.
It's the creativity.

Nobody does food like Heston.

NARRATOR:
Within ten years of it opening,

The Fat Duck had earned
three Michelin stars

and was named
the world's best restaurant.

There's no way in a million years
I could have imagined being here

and what has happened
over the last 30 years.

My ADHD explains a lot.

If you find something that you love,

you just go into it
hook, line and sinker.

But in 2023,
Heston's mental health deteriorated,

and for his own safety, he had to be
briefly sectioned by his wife.

Knowing my diagnosis is bipolar,
it's been just under a year now.

If something then comes in
that frustrated me,

I would go into anger or rage.

But the upside is,

I'm vomiting ideas
almost with every breath.

Now I'm coming to terms
with the new me.

We want our six to try
and recreate Heston's dishes.

They're going to be shown things
they thought were never possible.

It would be really challenging
for professional chefs.

So for the contestants,
the challenge is humongous.

Each team has been given
one of Heston's iconic recipes,

and your job as pairs
is to recreate it.

So, nice and simple,
really, isn't it?

THEY LAUGH

The toughest challenge
on MasterChef so far.

3½ hours.

Let's cook.

OK...

Right. Here we go.

I'll leave you the fish.
I'm going to start the cures, OK?

This is a massive honour.

Our six are going to take on dishes

which have taken years
in the making, years to develop.

What's this for?

As good as they are,

they won't have done dishes
anything like this,

because they are Heston dishes.

Salt and... Prague powder.

Do you know what that is?
What? Prague powder?

They have got to become part chef,
part scientist.

I'm...

..completely mind-blown.

I absolutely can't believe

this is happening right now.

I've admired Heston for so long,
it's equal measure

amazing and terrifying.

Assisting Heston in the kitchen is
The Fat Duck's head of development,

Ashley Hatton.

The amount of time you've got,

going to work straight away is key.

Copywriter Claire
and vocational trainer Sam

have over 50 steps to follow
to achieve a highly intricate dish

inspired by one of
Heston's culinary heroes -

godfather of nouvelle cuisine
Alain Chapel.

I went to his restaurant
and I had this unbelievable dish,

which was a jelly of pigeon.

So I wanted to do
an homage to Alain Chapel.

Heston's version is called
Jelly of Quail.

The key components are a pea mousse,
quail consomme jelly,

crayfish cream
and a chicken liver parfait.

Here we've got a complex dish

which is layered and
things are hidden underneath.

It's a beautiful,
delicate little thing.

You want to be able
to cut through all the layers,

so you get all of them
in the same spoonful.

It's served with
a truffle toast sandwich

and a container of oak moss,

and true to Heston's form,
it's a multi-sensory experience.

You pour dry ice over
the oak moss itself,

and with the vapour, it carries
the smell of the oak moss.

So what you're doing is
tasting a smell.

We've got classic ideas
going on here,

but with modern techniques.

There's just so many things
that could go wrong.

I need to follow exactly

what is on the recipe.

Sam is working on the all-important
namesake of the dish.

Jelly of Quail comes in
the form of a quail consomme,

taking quail stock,
minced quail's egg white,

brought together
and completely clarified

so it's absolutely crystal-clear.

I'm slowly going to
bring it to simmer,

so the egg white's just creating
a raft for this clear consomme.

Hopefully it should work!

Claire is tackling another
vital element of their dish -

the chicken liver parfait.

I'm preparing sous vide bags,
which I've never done in my life.

Let's do it.

The chicken liver parfait
is basically

a very intense reduction of
different alcohols with butter,

chicken livers, eggs.

Doesn't it look
like it's going to pop?!

BANG

Ohhh! It did pop!

Whoa!

Oh, no. That's a disaster!

Claire and Sam are being introduced
to all sorts of new paraphernalia,

and they're struggling a little bit.

Do you have more shallot?
I've got more shallot.

I can do it again.
That's no problem.

A lot of work to do,
lots of processes.

Timing's important.

The jelly,
the chicken liver parfait...

Don't do it again.
..have to be set perfectly.

I think it's going
to be really difficult.

I don't normally come down the back,
but that's what it's saying...

Fishmonger Harry
and full-time mum Hazel

will be tackling one of Heston's
most immersive creations.

Harry and Hazel
are tasked with a dish

which incorporates not just food
but also sound.

The Sound of the Sea
is the title of this dish.

I met a scientist who worked
for a flavour company.

We did an experiment,

and I realised the effect of
eating something

whilst listening to something
is massive.

We have mackerel, halibut,

cockles, seaweed,
all together on an edible sand,

but within that,
there's pickles and cures,

vinegar and salt -
the flavours of fish and chips.

It looks like the sand,
and you've got the foam of the waves

lapping up on the shore,

but when you've got the headphones
on

and you hear the noise
of the seagulls,

it takes it to a new level.

You can almost taste the sea before
you actually physically taste it.

I'm really excited. I think
it's a great dish, but, you know,

there's some ingredients I've never

cooked with before,
so we'll see how it goes.

Each of the 18 seafood components
is prepared differently.

I'm just coating my halibut
in its base cure.

A bit of halibut
rolled in some seaweed dust.

Sounds simple enough,
but not if it's Heston.

Also getting to grips with a cure
is Harry with the mackerel.

6g of toasted coriander seeds.

20g of lemon zest as well.

Knowing Heston, if I'm
half a gram out, he'll know!

Curing is the same as cooking,
so if there is too much cure,

it will overcook the fish.

If there's not enough cure, the fish
won't be firm enough to slice.

Video colourist Sophie

and retail business manager Henry

are tasked with one of
Heston's illusionary masterpieces

that's been on the menu
for 25 years.

It's one of Heston's
most iconic dishes -

bacon and egg ice cream
served with pain perdu,

meaning lost bread -
French toast, eggy bread.

One of the first areas of cooking
that I looked at

in terms of the science
was ice cream,

and I quite often found
vanilla ice creams to be quite eggy,

and it took me back
to my childhood. Boiled eggs.

This is when I started thinking, oh,

I'm going to turn breakfast
into a dessert.

The ice cream is frozen
in front of the customer,

and it's stirred in a pot,
so it sounds like bacon sizzling,

but when it comes out,
it looks like scrambled eggs,

and when you eat it,

it has the flavour of ice cream
with bacon running through it.

But the preparation is
all-important to make sure

the theatre at the table works.

You read it and you think, like,
this is bonkers.

You're just like,
that goes with that?!

This is tomato jam.

And there's also in there,

strangely, coffee.

While Henry tackles the jam,
Sophie focuses on the ice cream.

It's a lot of bacon,

and I don't eat bacon, so...

SHE LAUGHS

..a little bit
out of my comfort zone.

Are you nervous?
Are you in awe? Where are you here?

Maybe a bit...dancing in between
the both of those!

And how... How are you two
finding working together?

Sophie's actually a vegetarian,
and strangely enough,

the first task, she did the meat
stuff and I did the veg stuff.

So maybe we need to have a little
rethink about what we divvy up!

THEY LAUGH

One bit of advice for you guys -
check your bacon.

How long has it been in for?

It does look quite cooked.

Redo the bacon,
because it's too strong.

Teams, you've had one hour.

One hour.

NARRATOR: Across the kitchen,

Claire is working on the bottom
layer of the Jelly of Quail...

This isn't any puree,
this is Heston puree.

..a pea mousse...

It's the precision of it, isn't it?

I've never dished out
5g of pea puree in my life!

..which will need to be
chilled and set

before the rest of the dish
can be constructed.

Good luck, little ones. Please work!

First bit of Heston in. OK.

Another element that will need time
to set is the chicken liver parfait.

I need to be careful
it won't split.

I've already exploded
the sous vide machine,

so, you know, I'm a little behind.

The blended parfait is then
cooked in a bain-marie.

I've got to get it
to exactly 64 degrees.

Couple of degrees either way,

and it'll either be too soft

or can even start to be grainy
and really heavy.

Team-mate Sam is still on
his first element.

The consomme looking really good.

The crucial bit is to get this out,

making sure that it's not cloudy.

You can't pour it out,

because then you just
pour the foam back in,

so you have to extract it
without disturbing the foam.

I feel like my hand is shaking,

but I don't want to ruin
the whole thing.

Once strained,

the consomme will need to cool
before it can be turned into jelly.

The timing is very tight,

so they're going to be
close to the edge

to get the right set of the jelly.

How is everything going?

I'm finding this is extremely, like,
way out of my comfort zone!

Big time.
What are you worried about?

You eating our food?!

THEY LAUGH

Yeah. OK, I'll just disappear!

Right... One on top of the other...
and roll.

On the Sound of the Sea,

Harry's mackerel is cured

and ready to be shaped
into a ballotine...

Yeah. Roll into a barrel.
Nice and tight.

..which will then be
cut into medallions.

That mackerel is two fillets

bound together with
an edible glue substance.

So just keep rolling and tucking.
Rolling, tucking...

He can't rush it.
If he cuts it too early,

they'll fall apart.

Meanwhile, Hazel
is focusing on an element

that's a play on
a traditional seaside snack.

Little cockles
are going on the side,

but they're going to be pickled.

Too much pickle means that
those cockles can go rubbery.

There's definitely pressure. I mean,
I've never cooked like this before.

I mean, what normal person has,
to be honest?!

How different is this?

Oh. Miles apart. Miles apart.

It's just so precise. Mmm.

You know, half the battle is
getting all your ingredients to hand

and getting everything
weighed out perfectly,

before you even think
about mixing stuff together,

because it's so easy
to make a mistake.

Is there something
you're most scared of?

Getting the plating as close to,
or, like, the same.

Going to take some time
and real patience.

After having to redo the bacon,
Sophie is up against it.

You all right, Soph?

Yeah, yeah.
Just sweating out like a pig!

She's got it recooked,

but it will need to infuse in milk
for two hours...

Timing is tight.
I need to get that in there now!

..before it can be turned into
a custard for the ice cream.

Jam's on?
Yeah, jam is about to go on, yeah.

Just keep pushing.
Get those eggs done.

That will take longer
than you think. Yeah.

Get more things going, I suppose.

Sophie and Henry's next task
is the dish's fiddliest job.

They've got to take a whole egg,

put holes in either end of the egg,

blow the egg out,
so the egg is completely empty...

It did say blow, didn't it?

HE LAUGHS

I'm going to put
a few more holes in.

Then they've got to plug one end up
and, taking a syringe,

they've got to put the ice cream
mixture inside the egg.

Oh, look, look at that!
The yolk's coming out. Hooray!

In a pot in front of Heston,
Gregg and I,

they will have to
crack open their eggs

and then add to that liquid nitrogen
to make ice cream.

And that's going to be tough.

We've got a lot to do.

You underestimate
how long everything takes.

And it's like, you want everything
to be, like, perfect.

Sam's quail consomme
for the jelly has been cooled.

Yeah?

HE LAUGHS

You clever boy!

It's now down to Claire
to finish the next layer...

No breathing!

..by adding the consomme
on top of the pea mousse,

which will form the jelly.

OK... Oh, that looks good, Claire.
That looks good.

This is going in a blast chiller

until set.
A blast chiller until set. OK.

Careful!

You have just an hour
and ten minutes left.

One hour, ten minutes left.

Well done. Yes!

It's really, you know,
down to the set -

how the consomme sets.
And the chicken liver parfait,

that's going to be
the biggest hurdle of all,

to get the texture of that right.

On the one hand, I feel really good

that we've got crucial elements

setting in the fridge
with an hour and ten minutes to go.

We still have to quenelle
the parfait.

I don't know whether the parfait
is going to be OK or not.

I haven't done
the crayfish cream yet.

We haven't got all of the components
that go inside the toast,

including the toast.

So, yeah, still quite a bit.

Harry and Hazel have been
working on the stock base

for a Heston trademark component.

Slow, slow, slow...

The seaside foam is inspired by
a classic fish white wine sauce,

but adding to that
some Japanese flavours.

It should have the aroma
and the texture of the foam

as the waves crash on the seashore.

I just need to add this scary stuff.

That's called codium,
and then that infuses the foam.

Once you've got your foam base,

just before when you're serving,
you froth the foam up.

But there's still a lot to do.

This is N-Zorbit

tapioca maltodextrose, obviously(!)

My worry is I just can't quite see
how it comes together as, like,

a sand texture at the moment,

but I'm sure the more stuff I add,

hopefully it'll start to look
a bit more like sand.

Also working their way through
an extensive prep list

are Henry and Sophie,

who have only just started another
of their dish's key elements.

So I'll do this pain perdu mix.

Walnut liquor. This looks like
it should be it, doesn't it?

This is about a mixture of
eggs, milk,

all sorts of flavourings
coming together to make a batter,

which then has brioche soaked in it.

Neither of us have used
this vacuum sealer before,

so a little bit nervous about it,
to be honest with you.

Sophie and Henry
have still got a lot to do.

Do you want to do it?

SHE LAUGHS

And they seem quite relaxed.

Yeah, go on, then.
You're on... You're on stop duty.

Have I got to hold it?

But they're going to
have to really motor.

THEY LAUGH

OK, great(!)

Oh, oh, oh...! Oh, shoot.

It's OK. We're fine, we're fine.

For the last 20 minutes,

Claire and Sam's full focus

has been on finishing
the crayfish cream layer.

Claire, Sam...

..your jelly -
have you checked it recently?

No. No. OK.

We'll go and check it.
We'll do it now. Please check it.

Yes. OK! I'll go.
Thank you. Thank you, Chef.

It's crystallised. Oh, is it?

It needs to come
really to ambient now.

It's been so important that
we set all of our layers.

But the blast chiller was
a little keen, and so it's frozen,

which we don't want.

I can't believe it,
after all that work.

It's not easy to reverse it. No.
Because it's going to just melt.

Guys, you've got 30 minutes left.

That's 30 minutes.

It's looking a lot more like
sand now, which makes me happy.

Oh, that's lovely.

I've never cooked seaweed before,
but I've ate it.

With time running out,

one of Harry's final jobs
is to finish the foam.

Let's foam this up.

If you don't froth it enough,

you won't get the lightness
and the texture of the foam.

Is that the most sort of foam
I'm going to get? You want your...

You want your blade sort of half-in,
half-out. And then on a low heat?

You could also tip your pan
on an angle. Yeah, like that.

God, I hope this thing's right.

Let's get whisking!

Sophie and Henry's milk
for the ice cream base

has been infusing with bacon

and is now ready
to be made into a custard.

"Place the mixture on medium heat
and continuously stir

"using a spatula whilst bringing
the temperature up to 84,

"using a probe."

To create the unique eggy flavour,
the mixture must be heated up...

It's almost at 82.

..before it's rapidly cooled to
exactly four degrees, for piping.

How's it going, Sophie?
Yeah, good, I think, I hope.

You're looking
the right level of colouration.

The key thing is once you get
the coating of the caramel.

Yeah.

It's taking quite a while
to come down to temperature.

Any tips? Yes.

Pour a load of salt into the ice

and the temperature of that
will plummet.

Thank you.

GREGG: We have just 15 minutes.

15 minutes.

I think we start plating,
to be honest.

SAM: Claire, this smells so good!

Yeah, perfect.

This is still at 16. Still at 16?

I'll plate everything, don't worry,
and then you get on that.

So the mackerel is looking
really nice, actually.

It's got a lovely
even texture to it.

Guys, this is precision
on another scale, isn't it?

It certainly is!

Oh, God, my hand's shaking now!

Rocher!

Come off the spoon!

Are you doing OK, Soph?
Yeah, I'm doing good.

We've just got to get that
piped into the eggs.

Whatever you're doing,
do it very, very quickly.

You have five minutes.

Yeah! There you go.

HESTON: Oh!

Hey!

Boom!

Yes, yes!

Get them in the eggs now.
Yeah.

Otherwise you won't
have any ice cream.

60 seconds to finish off.

Well done, well done, well done...

Aargh!

In... down...

Perfect!

SHE GASPS

Nice!

That's it! Stop!

Yes!
Wow! Brilliant!

Well done!

You smashed the plating. Well done.
Really well done.

I said I'm not going to cry!

THEY LAUGH

Yeah, well, we all knew
that wasn't true, didn't we?!

Ooh!

Sam, Claire, please.

Claire and Sam have made
Heston's Jelly of Quail.

Layers of crayfish cream,
quail consomme jelly and pea mousse

topped with a chicken liver parfait
and a fig tuile,

served with
a truffle toast sandwich.

You got layers!

That's it. You got the layers.

(Yes!)
SHE INHALES SHARPLY

You can the taste
the balance in the parfait.

Bang on.

To do a rocher just like that...

..I think you've done
a pretty good job.

You had a bit of a problem
with the consomme, didn't you?

We did, yeah. Crystallised.

I mean, you can still see it there,

but it's not a deal-breaker.

And I think you've done
a really cracking job.

CLAIRE: Thank you, Heston.
Thank you. That means the world.

The parfait - beautifully smooth.

The richness of that crayfish cream,

giving sort of seasoning and
saltiness at the same time -

I think it's fantastic.

That might be the best sandwich
I've ever tasted!

I mean, that rich, buttery parfait,

then going into truffle -
that is proper indulgence.

What's going on inside
this little bulb is just bizarre.

Everything's really, really cold,

and then as it starts to melt,

you get the flavour of
the roasted bird, the quail.

Absolutely delicious! And then
the natural sweetness of pea.

I'm amazed you've done this.

That really just happened.
Heston ate our food!

That was something else!

And he quite liked it!

I'm so proud of us, honestly.

Good job.

I will remember it forever.
It was amazing.

Hazel and Harry have produced

Heston's multi-sensory creation,
Sound of the Sea -

cured mackerel and halibut

with pickled cockles,

seaweed and sea vegetables,

served on edible sand

with a sea foam,

and enjoyed while
listening to seaside sounds.

FAINT SEASIDE SOUNDS
AUDIBLE FROM HEADPHONES

I feel like I want to look down,
make sure my shoes are still dry!

SHE LAUGHS

I'm blown away by the experience.

There's the saltiness
of the seaweed,

the sharpness
of those pickled cockles,

that lovely softness
from the halibut

with the kombu around
the outside of it,

just pickling it ever so slightly.

And then this foam,

which is reminiscent of
sucking in the sea air.

Yeah.

The mackerel was
filleted beautifully.

The cure on the mackerel - fab.

The balance between
the sand and the foam

I think is wonderful.

Actually, do you know what?

I'm going to put
my headphones back on again.

THEY LAUGH

It's the very simple flavours
of almost salt and vinegar.

The sea vegetables, some of them
salty, some of them pickled,

going sharp, then going into salty.

That's a fabulous dish.

You have really done it proud.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, mate!
Well done. Well done.

That was unreal. Unreal!

Heston must have tried that dish
thousands of times,

you know, and to actually see
genuine joy on his face when he...

..when he is tasting it, was...
Yeah. Something I'll never forget.

I just can't wait to, like,
tell my family!

I know, right?!
"Guess what we did today?" I know!

Oh, so proud of you, mate!

Sophie and Henry were tasked with
Heston's iconic ice cream dish,

Pain Perdu.

French toast with
tomato and coffee jam

and a pancetta crisp,

served with
bacon and egg ice cream...

GREGG: Waaayyy!

..scrambled in liquid nitrogen...

Brilliant.

..and topped with a tea jelly.

The whole thing eats
really, really well.

I know you were a bit worried
towards the end -

the ice cream mix wasn't
chilling down enough.

The ice cream was spot on.

You've got the little bit of bacon.
It's not salty in any way,

but you've got the savouriness
coming from the tomatoes,

which are also sweet,

and then you've got that cushion
from the bread, that toast,

which is crispy on the outside
and soft on the inside.

You get texture and flavour,

which just come together
beautifully.

It's obviously a dessert,
because there's so much sugar in it,

but it takes you to breakfast
and back a number of times!

The ice cream - of course,
cold numbs your tongue,

and as it starts to melt,

it is salty,
but slightly sweet bacon.

It's a Heston dish in concept, but
the execution is every bit you two.

Thank you.
Thank you.

Well done. Well done!
That was good feedback!

Can't believe that just happened.
Yeah, it was really surreal.

Absolutely unbelievable experience.

I've had a wonderful time.

I thought they all did
an incredible job.

I think they could have
crumbled under the pressure here.

They are iconic dishes
from an iconic restaurant.

They have done an amazing job.
I think you really inspired them.

Yeah, I'm glad you've inspired them,

because what comes up next
is going to be tough.

You now have had
a taste of what is possible.

You've been given a brief.

Your brief is to cook
something which is magical,

something which is exciting,
adventurous and theatrical.

Something which will
stimulate all our senses.

I want to see some magic.
I want to be surprised,

and that means emotion
and storytelling around the dish.

Ladies and gentlemen,
the job is to impress Heston,

because at the end of this,

five of you go through
to the next round.

That does mean
one of you is going home.

Two hours. Let's cook.

This is a big ask.

Our six having to impress
you, me and Heston.

What we want today is straight
out of The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Sophie, our brilliant vegetarian.
She loves plant-based food.

I think a lot of the things
that I've been doing

recently are quite controversial,

and they're a little bit
weird and wacky.

And I just thought,

why not lean into that

and just completely experiment?

How did you feel
when you got the brief?

I was pretty excited
when I got the brief.

I mean, I like trying to
replicate some meat dishes,

which I guess in itself
is kind of theatrical.

What are you cooking?
I'm doing a watermelon tartare

on layered potatoes

with egg yolk and caviar.

But I'm doing it all plant-based.

So you're doing
a play on a meat dish

and you're a vegetarian? Yes. Yeah.
Oh, that's cool.

I've actually not had caviar before,

or tartare, so I'm creating
an experience that I've not had.

I think it sounds wonderful.
Chef, what do you reckon?

Me too. I'm very excited to try it.

This seems to be a mixture of
tuna tartare and a steak tartare.

Steak being replaced
with watermelon,

marinated with soy sauce
and nori seaweed.

Then it's going to be roasted.

It will give us the texture of meat,

but the flavour of the salt
and the sea.

On top of that,
we've got a runny egg yolk,

but it's not an egg yolk.

It's going to be made from
carrot and black salt.

Pretending I'm having fun.

The whole thing is then going
to be garnished with caviar,

but not caviar at all,
but spheres of seaweed.

She's doing sliced potatoes, which
are going to be baked in the oven.

Those potatoes are the only thing

that might be able
to give us texture.

I hope it's not all too soft.

I like precise measurements.

A dash of this and a splash of that

doesn't really fit in
with my style of cooking.

Harry's pushing towards fine dining.

What he loves is classic dishes.

Heston's dishes are a move
way away from that.

Be very interesting to see
if Harry can adapt.

I'm doing a take on
an Eton mess today.

So we've got
strawberry-filled meringues,

we've got balsamic gel,
raspberry puree,

some fresh macerated strawberries.

Chantilly cream in there as well.

And then it's all encased
in a sugar dome

on a nice little bed of
white chocolate soil.

Where's the inspiration
for this come from?

First-ever dessert memory
I have, actually,

was when my mum told me that
I could go and make my own dessert.

So I ran into the kitchen,
grabbed some ready-made meringues,

some double cream, and some
strawberries, mixed together,

and then for about
four or five years afterwards,

I was convinced that
I'd invented Eton mess.

It wasn't until many years later
that I realised it was invented

100 years before I was even born.

Harry's making a sugar globe made
from sugar and glucose and water.

This is literally
the most stressful bit.

Let's go for it.

Two hemispheres brought together.

When we crack that open,
that's the theatre.

And inside he's going to have
vanilla-rich cream,

crispy meringues baked in the oven -

and they should be dry
all the way through -

and then macerated strawberries.

Technically,
there's a huge amount of work.

This is a big ask.

I'm absolutely terrified of
the sugar work.

It's something that
I've never tried before.

It's unpredictable and
it could just all fall apart,

and it's the centrepiece of
the dish.

You've had 45 minutes.
45 minutes have gone.

I'm just feeling
a little bit worried about

getting everything done in the time.

Hazel is a new mum
who obviously loves to cook.

She has grown in confidence

as her competition has developed.

How has Heston's visit here
inspired you?

I mean, it's just inspired me to,
like, really ramp it up a notch,

you know, and just get creative
and push my boundaries.

The inspiration behind this dish,
which I've called My Motherhood,

is a celebration of breast-feeding
my little baby girl, Halo,

how much love that's brought us,

and I want to celebrate that

for myself and
all the other mothers out there.

It's going to be
a dulce de leche mousse dome

with a pistachio biscuit base,

a hazelnut and white chocolate
mirror glaze,

a white chocolate ball
filled with jelly hearts,

a halo biscuit tuile

and a vanilla creme anglaise.

The dome is going to
resemble a breast,

and then you'll have
the creme anglaise in a baby bottle.

You wanted emotion!
I wanted emotion, yes!

It doesn't get more emotional than
that, does it? Blimey! Blimey, yes.

We are getting a dome,

which is going to be
made from dulce de leche.

Taking a rich caramel mixture,

mix it with cream gelatine
to have a lovely mousse.

Mousse has to set completely.

It's got to be really lovely,
light and fluffy.

On the side of that, we're going
to be served creme anglaise,

that classic French custard,

and we've got a tuile
in the shape of a halo,

because Hazel's daughter
is called Halo.

What is paramount
for Hazel is timing.

She has to make sure
every single element is made,

chilled, set, before she starts
to put it all together.

Henry, technically,
very, very good cook.

We've had classic dishes from
around the world reimagined.

I definitely like the idea of
theatrical food.

That being said, having to actually

come up with something
that's MasterChef standard,

you soon realise that
you need to do something

that both looks amazing, theatrical,
and tastes really good.

And that's actually
really difficult.

I'm making you, sir,
a stuffed poussin, some squash,

some leeks and some potato.

But everything's swapped position.

Chicken's going to
look like a squash.

Squash is going to look like a leek.

Leek is going to look like
some shoestring fries.

And the potato is going to look like
a chicken drumstick.

Brilliant.

The thing I'm most worried about is
that this can look great, right?

But if this tastes boring,
then you go,

"There's no point
in doing it," so...

Yeah, you're setting yourself up
for a bit more pressure there.

Yeah, exactly! Yes.
Good luck, Henry.

Thank you. Cheers.

The chicken - he's using
a small chicken, a poussin.

He's made a stuffing
with sausage meat and apricots,

tying the whole thing up
and trussing it

so it does look like a little
pumpkin you get at Halloween.

The squash is going to be
put inside a leek tube,

so it actually looks like a leek,

but inside it's going to be
a squash puree.

The leeks are going to be
cut to become chips.

There's our potatoes.

And then the potatoes,
he's taking bits of potato,

crumbing it and then deep-frying it,

so it actually looks like
a chicken drumstick.

It's showing off
a huge amount of process.

You have 45 minutes left.

SHE EXHALES

How fast does it move in here?!

Claire is a family cook.
She's been cooking for years,

but her dishes are
far from ordinary.

She's already kind of entering
the world of crazy food.

She's going to love this!

I am taking inspiration from
your illusion dishes.

So the dish is
a smoked salmon pate

with a scallop cream, and
a chilli and tomato sauce

with sprinkles and
Parmesan crackers.

But it should look like
strawberry ice cream

with strawberry sauce
and hundreds and thousands

with a bit of squirty cream.

Like a sundae.
It should look like a sundae.

Whoa! My grandmother
would save up 20-pence pieces.

When we went on holiday,

we could use it for
a fancy ice cream.

So it should look like my childhood

and taste like the things
I love to eat today.

I'm intrigued about the balance,
because obviously with the salmon,

the texture of that is going to
play quite a big role in

playing around with the confusion.

I think that's the absolute key
to this dish. Yeah.

The ice cream needs to be
in a ball somehow,

and that cream
needs to taste of scallops,

but still actually
be able to hold up enough

that it does look
like whipped cream.

This could be fantastic,

but the flavours have to
all come together as a marriage,

otherwise it just doesn't work.

The elements
I'm concerned about today

are the things that have to set.

If they don't work,
the theatre is lost,

and so they have to work today.

Sam hails from Thailand,
where he cooks classic Thai food.

The flavours are sensational.

But he's not afraid to experiment,

and that is what
Heston is all about.

I am doing a Black Forest
gateau-inspired chocolate cake

with a candy frost to cover them.

So you're hiding
the Black Forest gateau

in a cloud of candyfloss?
Yeah.

I used to work as
a domiciliary care.

One of the patients
I used to look after,

she had some brain impairment
and bipolar.

While I was with her, she said,
"I just want to do a cake."

With her having bipolar,
she knows exactly what she wants.

We do the baking together
with me supporting her. Wow.

And then that was
the first experience of me

with the Black Forest gateau cake.

That's powerful. Yeah.

Really powerful.

HE LAUGHS

That emotion is going
to come straight through.

Yeah. So that's
why I chose to do this.

So it means a lot. Oof!

We have got a chocolate cake
made without flour.

With that, in layers, we have
a chocolate and kirsch mousse.

The mousse has to be set perfectly,

and it's got to be
a really rich flavour

of cherries and also chocolate.

Inside that, we've also got cherries

which have been macerated
with kirsch and brandy,

but cooked to almost like
a compote-y jam mixture.

Then across the top of that,
a mirror glaze,

which should be a lovely,
almost ganache mixture,

but should be completely shiny.

And then he's hiding the whole thing
in a wig of candyfloss.

There's lots of process,
timing's important,

but also, every single part
of this has to work -

otherwise, everything's
going to collapse.

I just have to believe,

and hopefully someone from above

look over my shoulder, and then
everything will turn out well.

Your creations
look and sound magical,

but you've got just ten minutes.

The sugar domes,
they're super-delicate,

and the longer they cool, as well,
they get even more brittle.

So I've just got to have
a steady hand.

Oh, this is a weird shape!

I am losing my marbles,
to be honest.

Working in the fridge,
working here...

Guys, you have five minutes, please.
Just five minutes.

So that's the crumb
that looks like chocolate crumb,

but it's actually
rye and bacon and garlic.

You have just three minutes,
everybody. Three minutes left.

Oh, don't split, don't split!

60 seconds is what you've got, guys.

There you go. Go.
Commit. There you go!

Ohhh! Go, Sam!

That's it! Your time is up.

Well done, everybody. Well done.

How'd it go?
Sounded like it went well.

It went. It went.
"It went."! Yeah, exactly!

Sophie. Come on, come on!

Hello.

Sophie's theatrical take
on a tartare

is watermelon roasted
with soy sauce and nori,

coated in a soy milk mayo,

on layered potato,

with pickled enoki mushrooms,

topped with an egg yolk
made of carrot and black salt,

and seaweed caviar.

I like the look of it.

I love the sense of confusion

and the overriding sort of

slightly Japanese style of
fishiness to it,

which, bizarrely, is a bit meaty.

I really like it.

My massive concern
with this dish was texture,

but those potatoes
sitting underneath there,

they give you that crunch.

The caviar, which looks fantastic,
does explode in your mouth.

I think you've done
a really good job here.

What you've done here is recreated

the texture and the flavours of
a steak tartare.

The egg yolk works.

It feels like a rich egg yolk
that you'd mix through the tartare.

I think this is
really, really clever.

In fact, for me,
it may be your finest work.

I'm in actual shock. Like,

that was some of
the best feedback I've got,

but I think I'm just
slowly processing it!

Playing with the mind,

Henry has made a squash-shaped
poussin stuffed with sausage meat,

mashed potatoes
shaped into a drumstick...

..potato chips made from leek,

and a leek filled with squash puree,

served with a chicken sauce.

I love the chicken pumpkin.

The sauce is really, really good.

My criticism with it, really, is,

it's a conventional dish which has

a really beautiful
centrepiece to it.

You get conventional
more than different? Yeah.

The leek itself,
with the squash inside,

the squash is quite sticky

and that leek on the outside is
a little bit tough and stringy.

The potato, my croquette mixture
has started to blow open,

which tells me
the mashed potato was too wet,

and the potatoes
to become the leeks...

Because you put leeks
underneath them,

the deception has gone,

so it doesn't work
as a bit of trickery.

I feel slightly different
to the other two

in that I love absolutely
everything on this plate.

That chicken looks every inch
like a small pumpkin.

You cut through that, it's clear
that chicken is beautifully cooked,

really moist, and in there,

that sausage meat is
giving it the pepperiness.

I really like it.

There's mixed feedback.

I had a couple of things
I could have done better in there.

So, yeah, a bit nervous.

Turning her childhood favourite
ice cream sundae on its head,

Claire has made salmon mousse
and scallop cream

with a bacon crumb,

Parmesan wafer,

and sprinkles made from
edible flowers,

served with a tomato
and chilli sauce.

I think it looks amazing,

because it looks every inch
an ice cream sundae.

You have turned savoury to a sweet.

It's fun!

I love the creaminess of
your salmon mousse.

Your scallop cream
I think is lovely,

but a little bit powerful.

It could be just
a little bit lighter.

But once I mix it all together,
it is wow.

Thank you.

Like the bacon crumb underneath,
saltiness. Like the sprinkles.

But it's a very rich dish.

You look at the amount of mousse
you've got in there,

I'd be tempted to really reduce this
down to a much, much smaller dish.

I think it looks
really playful to me.

And the addition of this
is wonderful,

and the little kick of chilli
works really well.

In terms of the brief,
I think you just about smashed it.

Claire, thanks very much. Thank you.
Thank you.

The best part, for me,
was Heston saying,

"You pretty much smashed the brief."

That's the best feedback I've had,
full stop. Like, delighted.

Harry's take on an Eton mess

is a sugar dome containing
strawberry-filled meringues,

macerated strawberries,

raspberry coulis,
Chantilly cream and a balsamic gel,

on top of a white chocolate soil.

GREGG: Hooa-haaa!

Yes! Yes!

The shell, the dome,
the texture and the finesse of it

and the flavour of it, are bang-on.

Inside, I would have pushed up
the acidity a bit more,

because the white chocolate soil
is quite sweet.

And maybe some more meringue.

OK.

The strawberries all chopped up in
their own natural form are lovely.

The raspberry coulis is sharp
rather than being too sweet.

Your cream itself,
rich with vanilla.

But the meringues you put inside,

because with all the cream
and the juice of the strawberries,

are starting to collapse,

and you don't get
the crispness of those meringues.

It's Eton mess flavour,
which I absolutely love, of course.

Cream, strawberry, sugary meringue.

And that stuff is comforting
and it's sweet.

Well done.

I think I hit the brief.
You know, I think it was theatrical.

The sugar dome really worked nicely.
It looked great.

But, you know,
some of the other elements

maybe needed a bit more
care and attention.

Inspired by her
breast-feeding journey,

Hazel's dish is called
My Motherhood.

It's a dulce de leche mousse

with a white chocolate mirror glaze
and raspberry powder,

a tempered white chocolate sphere
filled with hazelnut praline,

and raspberry and
Limoncello jellies,

with a halo biscuit tuile

served with creme anglaise
in a milk bottle.

And there's some audio
for you as well.

BABY BABBLES

That's my...
That's your baby? Yes, yeah.

I love everything about this.
Thank you.

Custard's really well made.

So is the dulce de leche mousse.

The addition of Halo,
your little 'un, crying,

and serving the custard
in a milk bottle,

I think is fantastic.

Thank you.

That mousse is light and soft
and just holds up.

Across the top, the mirror glaze
giving a really lovely shine.

The raspberry jellies
with the Limoncello,

little, tiny surprises.

Love the little tuile
giving crunch as well.

I really like it.

As creativity goes,
and personal to you,

I mean, it's bang-on, isn't it?

I think you've done an amazing job.

Thank you.

I feel relieved
my message got across.

I hope I've done mums proud.

Inspired by a former care patient,

Sam has created a dessert

based on the flavours of
Black Forest gateau...

..a mirror-glazed chocolate cake

with layers of
kirsch chocolate mousse

filled with a cherry compote,

underneath a candyfloss dome

flamed with brandy.

Woohoo! Oh, wow.

Oh, you clever lad!

Oh, mate, it just gets
better and better!

I love the theatre of
the melting candyfloss.

The chocolate sponge itself
is not too sweet at all.

In fact, it's more of a bitter feel.

The sweetness is
in the melted candyfloss

with the heat of the booze.

That's a stunning bit of work,
my friend.

Honestly...boom!

The mirror glaze -
absolutely perfect.

The mousse going through there -
wonderful.

Your chocolate sponge,
really lovely and soft.

And then this sort of
cavern of cherries

with lots and lots of booze,
like a jam.

I think that's fantastic.

Thank you.

The reveal for me
definitely had a wow factor.

It feels also like this gateau
has got love in it.

It was exciting, it was magical,

it was emotional,
and the execution was bang-on.

Thank you so much.

What's the name of the person
you looked after, who inspired this?

Amanda.
Sam, she'd be proud of you.

HE EXHALES SHARPLY

Sorry.

It's really, really happy tears,
like tears of joy.

I give everything that I have
to that dish,

and, um, Heston liked my food!

I cannot believe it.
I just still cannot process that.

I'm gobsmacked.

The amount of emotion and effort
they put into it,

and the joy they seem
to be getting out of it,

I really think after
these last two challenges,

they're going to grow as chefs.
Unforgettable for them,

unforgettable for us.
Unforgettable for me.

Well, I'm really pleased.
An absolute joy.

Thank you very much.
Thank you. Brilliant.

Thank you so much indeed.
See you soon.

Take care. Thanks, Heston.

I've got to say,
these six have performed

way beyond anything
I thought they were capable of.

I think some of the greatest
couple of rounds we've seen

in the competition
for a long, long time.

What an emotional day.

I think each one of us
has pushed ourselves emotionally,

mentally, physically. Yes, yes.

Whoever's going,
we just hold our heads up

really, really high,
because that was epic!

There's one absolute standout here,
and that is Sam.

The melting candyfloss
to reveal the chocolate gateau

was just stunning!

Sam ticked every single box.

Sam is going through.

Sophie took watermelon, potatoes,

carrots and then made
an extraordinary dish.

Her dish looked every inch
a tartare, didn't it?

John, she smashed it.
She's going through.

There's one other cook
who did really, really well,

and that was Hazel.

It was emotional, it was creative,

and it tasted great.

So there we've got three people
going through to the next round.

That now leaves us a conversation
with the remaining three.

Claire, I thought,
really showed her imagination.

We had incredible
amount of skill on show there.

It was just too rich for me.
But I loved the design.

Henry - I was really impressed,

but the creativity kind of
ended at the chicken pumpkin.

A pumpkin puree should be perfect.

A mashed potato shouldn't
blow out of a croquette.

For me, the execution is where
I've got the question mark.

Now, Harry. I like the sugar work,

and I liked the inside
that tasted like the Eton mess.

That globe cracked perfectly.

Making meringues and making
a white chocolate soil - fantastic.

But for me, the juice
of the strawberries

had basically melted that meringue.
We didn't get that texture.

It would mean everything to stay.
Of course it would.

I've definitely got
the MasterChef bug,

and when you get it,
you don't want to let go of it.

If this is the last time I cook,

I know that I can be
so proud of myself

and know how far I've come.

I'd like to stay in the competition,

because I'd like to
get to the final.

I'd like to go all the way.

I'd be really gutted
if I went home today.

What an incredible
couple of challenges.

We did say we've only got
five places in the next round.

That does mean, sadly,

one of you is leaving us.

The person leaving...

..is Henry.

SOME GASPS

Henry, I know
you're disappointed now,

but I want you to look back
with real pride

at what you've achieved.

Right now, though,
we have to say bye-bye.

Henry, thank you very much indeed.
Henry, thanks very much indeed.

Thank you.

I'm obviously feeling
really disappointed,

but it's inspired me,
it's made me a better cook,

it's made me push myself,

and, you know,
I'm proud of how far I've got.

Congratulations! Well done.

Ahhh!

Well done, everyone.
Great job, guys.

It doesn't feel real
to be in the final five.

Yeah, I mean, I thought
I was going out.

The sort of daunting idea
of having to cook again

is slowly seeping in!

Super, super, super happy
and super proud of myself.

Could never imagine it in my life!
HE LAUGHS

I'm going to take
every ounce of Heston-ness

that's happened here, and put it
into my cooking and drive forward.

Next time -
it's the last of the semifinals...

Trying to crack on and make sure
I get everything done.

I just want to make sure
it's cooked all the way through.

If it's not, I'm going home.

..and the five remaining contestants
are pushed to their limits...

Done that, done that, done that...

I love it.

I think it's great.

..as they battle for a place
in Finals Week.